Agra College, Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Agra College, Agra Uttar Pradesh is a recognised institute / college. Agra College is situated in Agra of Uttar Pradesh state (Province) in India. This data has been provided by www.punjabcolleges.com. Agra comes under Agra Tehsil, Agra District.

Agra College enjoys the privilege of being the oldest institution of learning in North India . It was founded in 1823 A.D. with the pioneering efforts of the noted Sanskrit Scholar and astrologer Pandit Gangadhar Shastri. The institution functioned as Government College till 1883.There after; its management was handed over to a Board of Trustees and a Committee of Management, both approved by the Government.

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Media coverage of Agra College, Agra Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh

NAAC report of Agra College

SECTION - I
Introduction
Agra College was established in 1823 as a college of oriental languages on the estate of a Sanskrit scholar and astrologer, Pt. Gangadhar Shastri as per his wishes by the state government.

In 1882 the college became an aided institution and it got affiliated to Calcutta University. Subsequently the affiliation got changed to the University of Allahabad in 1889 and then to Agra University in 1927. Agra University is now renamed as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University. The college has given North India its first Indian graduate. Today it is a grant-in-aid institution and runs a few self-financing courses also. It was recognized by the U.G.C. under Section 2(f) and 12(B) of the University Grants Commission in 1972. The college campus has an area of about 66.5 acres, which includes various departments, residential quarters and sports complex. The buildings with its Gothic architecture, symmetrical parapets and battlements give a majestic look. There are spacious buildings on the campus and these include academic, library, hostels, guest house, auditorium and administration blocks. The college is under the category of grant-in-aid; however, it also runs most of the courses as evening self-financing courses. It conducts undergraduate programme in Arts and Science offering several combinations, a three-year LL.B and five year LL.B programme and 18 postgraduate programmes in addition to Ph.D. programmes in all the 17 PG departments. The College has Science, Arts, Fine Arts and Law Faculties. In addition there is a self financing Faculty of Engineering and Technology offering courses in Mechanical, Electronics & Communication and Computer Science Engineering, which were started in 1999 on self-financing basis. The courses are affiliated to U.P. Technical University, Lucknow and were not under the purview of NAAC accreditation. The college has 242 faculty positions out of which 185 permanent faculty under-grant-in-aid and two contract teachers and one from J & K are in place. Seven teachers have D.Sc. / D.Litt., 126 have Ph.D., and 11 have M.Phil. degrees. The college has 117 administrative staff and 14 technical staff though total sanctioned positions are 223. Total enrolment of the college is 9005 for undergraduate, 1960 for post graduate and 486 for Ph.D. programmes. There are 2658 students under self financing scheme. The College follows annual system of examination. The Unit cost of the college is Rs. 1449 excluding salary and 6352 including salary component. Total working days of the college have been 257 while teaching days were 176 days. Total number of books in the library is more than 140250. The library has been subscribing a few national journals/ periodicals. The college volunteered to be accredited and submitted its Self Study Report to the NAAC.

A Peer Team was constituted by the NAAC to visit the College and to validate the Self- Study Report. It consisted of Prof. Mohan Lal Chhipa (Chairperson) Vice-Chancellor, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, Dr. P.P. Mathur, Professor & Head, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Coordinator Bioinformatics Centre, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University and Dr. A. P. Pillai, Principal, Shantaram Potdhukhe National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Chandrapur, Maharashtra as its members. The Peer Team visited the College from 7th to 9th Dec. 2006.

The Peer Team carefully studied and analysed the Self- Study Report submitted by the college. During the institutional visit, the team went through the relevant documents, visited various departments, facilities and support services available in the college. The Peer Team interacted with the Management, the Principal, the faculty, the supporting staff, students, parents and the alumni. The report of the Peer Team is based on the analysis of the Self-Study Report, careful perusal of the documents made available and the interaction with the various constutuents as indicated above.

SECTION - II
CRITERION I: CURRICULAR ASPECTS
Agra College, Agra is a multi faculty college affiliated to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra and is governed by the University Act. The College offers several combinations in Arts, Science, Commerce and Law at degree level and 17 programmes at postgraduate level and Ph.D. programmes in all the 17 PG departments. Since the college is affiliated to the Dr B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra, it follows the curricula prescribed by the University.

The aim of the college is to impart fundamental knowledge in the humanities, social sciences, sciences and law in order to develop a committed and dedicated young talent for the nation, to inculcate values of humanism, secularism, democracy, scientific temper and intellectual capacity in the youth to face challenges of changing society and to ensure free access to an equal opportunity of higher education to students irrespective of caste, creed, race, region, religion and socio economic status. The college has an emblem with the inscription 'sa vidya vimuktaya'.

There are about 14100 students in various courses. The student enrolment for the academic year 2005-2006 was 4495 various U.G. and P.G. courses. A number of options are available to the students. Around 32 personal computers and Internet facility in Network Resource Centre is made available to the students and faculty. Though it takes about one academic year to start a new course, the college has not started any new teaching programme in the last several years other than the courses in Environmental Sciences and Foundation Course. The college needs to start interdisciplinary courses. The college may think of providing value addition certificate and diploma courses to the students. The college may request the University to carry out its Academic Audit that will help the college to improve its academic excellence. Since the college is located in a metropolitan city of Uttar Pradesh and near to Delhi, it should take location advantage to have collaboration with IT and BT industries and financial institutions. This will help the students to have industrial exposure. There are evening courses which generated Rs. 65,70353.50 in 2004-05. The evening courses are run in the morning hours and offer all the regular course options.

CRITERION II: TEACHING -LEARNING AND EVALUATION
Students' admission for all the under graduate and postgraduate programmes is based on academic performance at qualifying examination and interview. The college observes about 176 teaching days, which should be increased. Teaching-Learning process at Agra College is quite comprehensive and student centered. However, through the special efforts such as orientation courses, seminars, field trips, class tests and mid-term examinations the teaching-learning process has improved. Remedial coaching is provided to the socially disadvantaged students.

Recruitment of the faculty is done by the U.P. Higher Education Service Commission, Allahabad. The recruited candidates are placed in various colleges depending on their requirements. In the past two years 17 teachers were recruited. In case of requirement Ad hoc teachers are appointed by the college on a fixed honorarium of Rs. 100 per hour subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000 per month. Senior faculty members participate in curriculum development/ examination work etc. of the University in their capacity as the members of the BOS and other academic bodies of the University. Faculty is encouraged to pursue higher studies and participate in seminars/ conferences and workshops. Most of the classroom/ laboratory teaching is done by regular faculty.

Teachers teach 24 periods of 45 minutes each per week. Many teachers have written text books which are published. Some of the books have been prescribed by the University and School Boards. A teacher in Painting and Fine Arts has published a twelve volume encyclopaedia. A few teachers have also received awards and honours.

The college follows the University stipulated Annual Examinations. The college conducts tests and examinations during the year.

The college conducts Seminars, Workshops for faculty development. Such seminars were organized by the Departments of Hindi, Botany, Philosophy, History and Physics in the last two years.

CRITERION III: RESEARCH CONSULATANCY AND EXTENSION
Successful teaching programme invariably requires a sound research footing in various postgraduate departments. It is also necessary for the faculty to be involved in meaningful research activities while pursuing their teaching profession. It helps them to remain abreast with the latest developments in their fields. The college has very qualified and dedicated faculty. Out of 191 faculty members, 137 have Ph.D. degrees and 7 have D.Litt. and D. Sc. Degrees. Only 12 of the faculty have ongoing sponsored research projects with a total outlay of about Rs. 14 lakhs; out of which a few are minor research projects. The college authorities may further encourage faculty to submit minor/ major research projects to central funding agencies such as UGC, CSIR, DBT, DST etc. as there are a large number of Ph.D. students. Only five of the students have got fellowships from U.G.C. One of the postdoctoral students in Physics Department has got a Fast Track Project of DST sanctioned. Approximately 30% of the faculty are engaged in active research. At present 325 students are pursuing for Ph.D. degree in different departments as full time research students.

Despite the fact that a large number of faculty have research degrees no structured consultancy has been extended or offered to the industry in particular and society in general. Consultancy culture could be strengthened. The faculty is encouraged to attend conferences, seminars, workshops. More than fifty faculty members have attended national and international conferences; six have acted as resource persons. Research articles in peer reviewed journals have been published by many faculty members. English Department publishes two research journals. The college publishes an annual magazine 'Vaani'. The college also organizes a one week cultural festival Rangoli.
There is no formal method to evaluate the performance of the teachers by the students. However, at the time of promotion self-appraisal reports submitted by them are considered.

Teaching, Research, Extension and Collaboration are four dimensions of the higher education. Institutions of higher learning should visibly respond to the community needs through its extension activities. Extension activities of the college are through NSS and NCC. Some of the faculty members are associated with Lions Club, Rotary Club, Akhil Bharatiya Mahila Parishad, Shree Kshetra Bajaj Committee and other NGOs and GOs. The college also participates in environmental activities like Taj Mahotsav. In NSS there are five units and the total enrolment is 500 and there are five Programme Officers. The college has an excellent track record of extension activities such as community development, health and hygiene awareness, adult education and literacy, social works etc. Frequent organization of blood donation camps and involvement in Pulse Polio programme are a few positive feature of the N.S.S unit.

The achievements of NCC wing are also outstanding. There are three units of NCC out of which one company is army wing with 160 cadets, one troupe of air wing of 100 cadets and one company of Girls' wing of 160 cadets. The total enrolment is 420 cadets. During the past five years the NCC cadets have received Defence Minister's Medal, Defence Minister's commendation, Governor's Gold Medal. A cadet led the national contingent to U.K. under Youth Exchange Programme. The NCC officer maintains a register of blood donors.

CRITERION IV: INFRASTRUCTURE AND LEARNING RESOURCES
The college is located in an urban area with a sprawling campus spread over 66.5 acres inclusive of residential area and Sports Complex. The college campus is maintained clean and beautiful. The layout of the buildings, laboratories, computer centre, library, hostel, staff quarters, classrooms, canteen and playgrounds indicates that there are adequate facilities for running the curricular and co-curricular activities of the college. There are 92 spacious class rooms, 44 laboratories, six lab. cum theatre for drawing and painting, one moot court hall, five seminar halls, one auditorium, common staff rooms, and several independent faculty rooms in Physics and Chemistry. The total area of various teaching departments is around 18,000 square metres. The college provides hostel facilities to about 340 men and 160 women students. The college has 81 residential quarters for faculty, class III and class IV employees. Accommodation for class IV employees is completely free. The college has a separate budgetary provision for maintenance of buildings and there is a building committee. The College encourages its constituents to use the infrastructure quite effectively.

The college has sufficient water resources and the ground water level could be maintained by installing water harvesting system. There are 17 generators of adequate capacity installed in various places in the campus to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

The college has taken steps towards computerization. It aims to provide at least one computer to each department. However, there is a UGC funded Network Resource Centre housing nine computers with broad band internet connectivity, which is too insufficient for all the students and teachers.

The college has a health centre with a part time doctor and a compounder which provides basic medical facility to the students. In case of emergency students are taken to the nearby hospital.

The College has a branch of Canara Bank which collects fees and maintains accounts of staff members.

The central library is located in a separate building measuring 1585 sq. metres. The total collection of the library books is more than 140250 out of which 60,000 are text books. The library has collection of some rare books. The Library has a Text Book Bank from which a student can borrow up to four books. The college subscribes a few national journals and periodicals.

Latest editions of some of the textbooks, reference books and journals are kept in some of the departments for the convenience of the staff and students. The central library is equipped with reprographic facilities. The library has spacious reading hall, stack rooms and a reference section for postgraduate students. There are separate cubicles for teachers and research scholars. It is suggested that a reorganization of library facilities with computerization is done. It is suggested that the stacks have open access for the students. The Library can also subscribe to INFLIBNET of the UGC for making on line journals available to the staff and students.

The college has very good sports facilities which include play fields for outdoor games like cricket, tennis, football, volleyball, basket ball, indoor games and Indian games. The play ground is provided with a boundary wall. Track records of the sports persons in various sports at the state/ national events are good. Several students have participated in the inter university tournaments. A few students were selected to represent at the National level. There is a Guest House for the teams who come to participate in various sports events. Facilities of indoor games like table tennis and badminton is provided.

There are advisory committees for library, sports, garden, buildings timetable, cultural etc. which help in the decentralization of administration. Constitution of some committees like Research and Consultancy committee may help the college in better research and consultancy output. The college may utilize many rooms which currently house condemned equipments. The effective use or use of spare capacity of infrastructure may help the college to mobilize additional resources. There is a Proctorial board to ensure proper discipline and administration in the Women's wing.

CRITERION V: STUDENT SUPPORT AND PROGRESSION
The college publishes its updated prospectus regularly. The prospectus of the college provides clear guidance to the students about admission rules, curriculum, tuition and other fees, refund of tuition fees, scholarships and freeships etc. Academic calendar is also provided to all the students. The college had many distinguished persons as its alumni. Some of them occupied high positions in India and abroad. Some of the distinguished alumni are Motilal Nehru, Shri G.S. Pathak, Former Vice President of India, Ch. Charan Singh, Former Prime Minister of India, Gulzari Lal Nanda, Dr. Tej Bahadur Sapru. However, during the past years records of the alumni are not maintained properly by various departments. The college has recently revived its Alumni Association. The success rate of the students in University examination is about 75% at UG and about 85% at PG levels. The rate of progression for higher studies and employment is also satisfactory. Some of the students have passed the competitive examinations like NET, GATE etc. Financial assistance is available to the students in the form of scholarships and freeships. In the past year 2293 students belonging to SC and ST, 149 availed of OBC and 240 students have availed of the General Category Scholarships. Ten students received other scholarships. The total outlay of scholarships was to the tune of Rs. 88 lakhs.

The college has sufficient infrastructure and well-run support services to ensure the physical and intellectual health of all the constituents. Students' feed back has been collected in a few departments.

The college has a recently organized placement cell and is headed by one of the faculty. It acts more like Career Guidance Cell. However, the number of students employed through the placement cell is very small. In place like Agra there are many employment opportunities and, therefore, the college may strengthen the employment cell by providing all necessary infrastructures. In order to make the students employable the college may start English speaking, personality development and computer literacy courses. The college may start job oriented certificate and diploma courses.

Alumni Association can play a very important role in the institutional development. Though a good number of alumni occupy high positions in the society, the college is yet to exploit their full potential. The college authorities may think of forming Alumni Association at the earliest.

CRITERION VI: ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
The college is managed by managing committee which is responsible to the Board of Trustees and exercise supervision and control according to the rules and regulations. The board of trustees came into existence on 24/7/1901 as a result of a trust deed signed between the Secretary of state in India in council on the one hand and the commissioner of Agra on the other hand. The Commissioner of Agra is the President, The Collector of Agra district is Vice- President and Principal of the College is the ex-officio Secretary to the Board of Trustees. All the non-official members are nominated by the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. The unique feature of the Board of Trustees that the Govt. created trust and provides for representation of two members of each Zila Panchayat of Agra division and two members of Agra Nagar Nigam. In the twelve member managing committee, three teachers of the college are nominated for every academic year by rotation in order to seniority and one member of non-teaching staff. There is an effective internal co-ordinating and monitoring mechanism, which is operated through the general supervision of the Principal and various constituted committees. The work efficiency of the non-teaching staff is ensured by the Principal under the rules and regulations laid down by the Govt. A committee is constituted to prepare the Academic Calendar but the affiliating University plays an important role.

During the IX Five Year Plan UGC sanctioned about Rs..1144440 and 693600 for UG and PG, respectively. However, UGC actually released Rs. 1061208 and Rs. 582624l for UG and PG, respectively. The college has utilised most of the grants received by it.

Resource mobilization through evening courses is excellent and allocation of funds to the various departments is done judiciously and effective utilization of the funds makes the programmes and functioning cost effective. Preparation of budget, annual accounts, balance sheets and audited statements are as per the set norms. The college also has an internal audit mechanism.

The college has various welfare schemes and informal grievance redressal mechanism for all the employees and students. Scholarships and free ships are made available to the needy students. The self-appraisal reports of the faculty and confidential reports of the supporting staff are properly maintained. Service books of faculty and supporting staff are also properly maintained. Purchase procedure is transparent. The faculty and supporting staff covered under grant in aid are eligible for fringe benefits as per norms.

CRITERION VII: HEALTHY PRACTICES
The Peer Team, in the context of over all working of the college, observed following healthy practices and commends some of them:

Pro-active student centered management and student centered approach in the curricular and co-curricular activities of the college.

A large number of faculty members with Ph.D. and D.Litt./ D.Sc. degrees.

A few teachers received national/ international recognition and awards.

A few teachers have participated in international conferences abroad.

A large number of Ph.D. students and publications.

A very cordial relationship between staff and students.

Fair conduct of examinations.

Establishment of Art Gallery and availability of rare books.

Availability of huge infrastructure of class rooms, laboratories and very spacious playgrounds.

Availability of health center with primary health care facilities.

Establishment of separate Women's wing with hostel and canteen facilities.

Extension activities through NSS and NCC in collaboration with NGOs and GOs.

Value-based education to the students through various activities.

Publication of prospectus of college with detailed information.

Resource mobilization through self-financing courses.

Organization of Moon Olympics with the help of Moon TV Network to promote interest in sports among students.

Contribution of Rs. 157,000 for Tsunami Relief by staff and students.

Plantation of a large number of trees on the campus.

SECTION-III
OVERALL ANALYSIS
The Peer Team critically studied and analyzed Self-Study Report, annexure supplied and additional information provided. The Peer Team visited the infrastructure facilities, had a detailed discussion with the management, the Principal, faculty, students, parents and alumni. The team is impressed by the innovative efforts made by the college authorities towards reaching the quality standards. However, the Peer Team found that certain features present in the College could have been brought out in the SSR more elaborately.

The Peer Team has observed many positive features of the college and commends the healthy practices as noted earlier. However, there are certain areas and aspects, which are of concern. The management and the Principal may pay attention to the following.

The faculty may be encouraged to undertake research and socially relevant projects.
Consultancy culture needs to be inculcated in the college.

The departments and faculty may make extra efforts to secure funding from various central-funding agencies by submitting research projects.

The college may seek autonomy which would help in starting new courses, update syllabi regularly, conduct examinations and declare results in time.

The college may initiate rainwater harvesting in the campus to solve the problem of water.

The college could have an insurance scheme for the benefit of the students.

The college may introduce Earn While Learn Scheme for needy students.

The Peer Team appreciates the efforts of the college authorities, the faculty, the supporting staff and role played by the management. The Peer Team places on record the appreciation to the institution for its co-operation during its visit.

The Peer-Team wishes the college a bright future.

Prof. Mohan Lal Chhipa (Chairperson)

Prof. P.P. Mathur (Member)

Dr. A. P. Pillai (Member)

Dr. A.V. Singh
Principal

Date: 09 December 2006

DIPIKA LAL Vs VIPIN KUMAR GUPTA

Thousands rally behind Anna in Taj city

Agra: Thousands took to the streets in this Taj Mahal city on Thursday in solidarity with the fasting Anna Hazare and his call for a strong anti-corruption legislation.Market associations called for a shutdown while thousands marched on Mahatma Gandhi Road, the citys lifeline.

Demonstrations were also held at road crossings. Some people observed fast at parks.Since morning, people began assembling at the Agra College playground. Within hours, thousands were shouting slogans hailing Anna.
Shopkeepers kept their shutters down for most part of the day to join the march.Doctors, lawyers, businessmen, students and others turned up for the rally. One factory owner turned up with all his work force after declaring a holiday in his establishment.The Shahid Smarak continues to be the nucleus of protests. Smaller rallies from neighbourhoods joined the main rally.

District authorities deployed additional forces to keep traffic running. Some people had tried to stop the Shatabdi Express on Wednesday.One woman said that women who had never dared to venture out of their homes were on the streets, singing songs and shouting slogans.We are proud to be part of the movement that will correct the distortions in our society, said slogan shouting teenager Niyati Sharma.

The protesters came out with creative songs as well as posters and banners with catchy slogans.The most amazing aspect of this agitation is its commitment to peace and non-violence, a police officer said.The volunteers seem fired by a strange passion we have not witnessed in recent history, the official added.
Summary: Agra College, Agra Uttar Pradesh website, mobile, contact address and approval / recognition details.